Fisherfolk from this province met with Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. on Friday to discuss production subsidies for fishing communities affected by the southwest monsoon and other concerns facing the province’s fishing trade.
The dialogue, held at the Department of Agriculture (DA) central office in Quezon City, was attended by local fisherfolk associations from Zambales and members of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya)
Among the issues raised were the lack of production subsidies for municipal fishers, who have been unable to fish since June due to rough seas brought by the southwest monsoon or Habagat, and the delayed release of fuel subsidies amid successive oil price hikes.
Roselyn Regalado, president of the Subic-based Samahan ng Cabangaan 3 Fishermen’s Unity, said they personally brought the concerns to Laurel, citing the need for calamity assistance and fuel subsidies for affected fishers.
‘We came to the Department of Agriculture’s central office to personally raise with Secretary Laurel the concerns of small-scale fishers in Zambales,’ Regalado said, adding that while the DA has funds intended for calamity response, affected fishers have yet to receive assistance.
‘We know that the DA has funds allocated for calamity response, but until now, we have yet to feel their impact,’ Regalado said in Filipino.
The fisherfolk groups also sought the DA’s intervention to the alleged intrusion of commercial purse seine fishing vessels into municipal fishing grounds and what they described as the manipulation of prices by fish traders.
Pamalakaya said that prices of skipjack tuna (gulyasan) have dropped to around P70 per kilogram from its usual P200 per kilogram, which the group attributed to the entry of commercial fishing vessels from outside the province and the resulting oversupply of fish in local markets.
‘The DA should look into the widespread presence of commercial fishing vessels from outside Subic, which has further driven down the prices of fish caught by local fishers. This is compounded by systematic underpricing by traders at the fish port. Under this prevailing system at the fish landing site, small fishers are the ones who end up losing,’ Regalado said.
The group urged the DA and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to consider directly procuring fishery products from municipal fishers at reasonable prices and to address the role of middlemen in determining fish prices.
They also asked the DA to look into the impact of maritime restrictions imposed during military exercises, including the Balikatan drills, saying these had affected the livelihood of municipal fishers in parts of Zambales